Logan's Journey: Chapter Eight
WRITTEN: 9 December 2012 Chapter Eight: Losing and Making Allies When he arrived back in the Sanctuary, he saw Jasper sorting out the promise he made to Page. ‘Ah, your back,’ Jasper said when he caught sight of Logan. He then frowned when he saw the goofy smile on the Prince’s face. ‘What happened?’ ‘Page kissed me,’ he said. ‘You’re just like your father,’ Jasper muttered, shaking his head fondly. Walter had told him about the time Sparrow first kissed Hammer. ‘Hey, Jasper, do you believe in love at first sight?’ Logan asked suddenly as he made his way to the dressing room. ‘Is it even possible?’ ‘Yes and no,’ Jasper replied, following him. ‘For some people they meet someone, fall in love instantly and remain loyal and in love for their entire life. Others are not so fortunate, though one is more likely to be with several partners than just one. If your mother wasn’t raised as a monk and if your father wasn’t rejecting love when they first met, they would have probably fallen in love more quickly.’ Logan nodded his head, thinking over what Jasper had just told him. Once he had changed into something more casual and comfortable, Logan went and found Bowerstone on the map before travelling there. He then mingled in with the crowd heading for the castle. When he arrived at the castle’s gates, he met up with Ben. ‘Ben!’ Logan called out when he saw the Captain of the Swift brigade. Ben turned and looked at him. ‘Logan,’ Ben said nodding his head at his friend. ‘Did you enjoy your party?’ ‘It could have gone better,’ replied Logan. ‘Do you have any idea what my sister wants?’ ‘Your guess is as good as mine.’ Logan then followed Ben towards the castle grounds where Lillian would be giving her announcement. They arrived just in time to hear what she had to say, though they had missed the beginning. 'Yes. Traitors walk amongst us,' she said. 'Traitors plot to end me. Traitors would have you believe their cause is noble. They wear many masks. They may look like your friends. They may even look like your most loyal servants,' she added as Swift was roughly pushed onto the platform where Lillian had had many people publicly executed. 'This... this is the face of a traitor.' 'Swift,' Ben gasped. You’re the only traitor here, dear sister, Logan thought bitterly. You have betrayed all of Albion with your tyranny. '' 'Major Swift,' Lillian continued, 'a respected member of the army and sworn servant of the kingdom has plotted against us all. He was apprehended attempting to turn loyal soldiers against me and you, and is thus charged with espionage, treason, and conspiracy. Yet there are still others darkening our land with their betrayal, with my brother being one. We shall hunt these traitors down, wherever they may be, and they shall suffer the same fate as Major Swift, which is the same fate of all enemies of the crown.' A soldier raised his gun at the end of Lillian’s words and pulled the trigger. Logan and Ben both turned their heads away with their eyes closed. ‘She has to be stopped!’ Ben growled as he shook with anger and grief. ‘No matter what it takes! She has to be…’ He broke off, unable to continue. ‘Come on,’ Logan said, grasping his shoulder gently. ‘We have to tell the others.’ Ben nodded and followed Logan back to the Resistance Headquarters in silence. Neither one of them felt like talking as they walked the deserted streets. ‘What did Lillian want?’ Page asked, looking up from some plans. ‘What happened?’ she added when she saw their sad faces. ‘Swift is dead,’ Logan answered in a hollow voice. ‘Lillian had him publically executed. She had one of her elite soldiers shoot him in the side of the face. Walter closed his eyes to prevent the loss of tears at the news of his friend’s passing. Page, however, bowed her head. ‘Swift was a good friend,’ Walter managed to croak out eventually. ‘He died like a true soldier.’ ‘Like a true soldier?’ Ben gave a bitter shaking laugh. ‘Let’s not pretend that there was anything noble about the way he died. Lillian had him tortured, humiliated and murdered!’ ‘True, but he didn’t give her any information,’ replied Walter. ‘If he had, we’d all be fighting for our lives now. I call that noble!’ ‘It was just a matter of time until Lillian did this,’ Page said miserably. ‘We have to fight back!’ ‘We’re still not ready, Page,’ Walter said firmly. ‘We need more allies!’ ‘But where are we to find them?’ asked Logan. ‘I don’t know,’ Walter admitted. ‘I suppose that we could always send a message to your father’s old friend, Garth, in Samarkand, but I don’t even know if he is still alive. There was a large age difference between them.’ ‘How big is the age gap?’ Ben asked. ‘When they first laid eyes on each other, Sparrow was only a boy while Garth was a grown man.’ ‘Oh.’ The small group fell silent as they silently brainstormed who to petition for help, though all their thoughts were interrupted when they heard a commotion outside. ‘Now what’s going on?’ Page grumbled, leading the men out of her quarters and down the corridor towards the main area the Resistance guards wait. ‘Who are you?’ Kidd demanded. ‘What are you doing here?’ ‘My name is Brian,’ replied an Albion soldier. ‘Major Swift sent me here with a message for Sir Walter, Captain Finn and Prince Logan.’ ‘Then give us the note.’ ‘I’m afraid it was given to me verbally, sir, with orders to give it to nobody except the Prince, Captain or Sir Walter.’ ‘It’s okay, Kidd,’ Page said, coming forward. ‘Let him through.’ Kidd grudgingly lowered his gun, as did the other Resistance Guards, allowing Brian safe passage. The soldier then followed Page and the other men back to the Resistance Leader’s quarters. ‘You said that Swift gave you a message,’ Logan said the moment they were away from prying ears. ‘What was it?’ Brian looked anxiously at Page. ‘It’s okay, you can trust her,’ said Ben, having noticed his look. ‘Very well, sir,’ said Brian. ‘Major Swift said, and I quote, “You will find allies in Aurora”.’ ‘Yep, that definitely came from Swiftie,’ Ben chuckled. ‘That was very straight forward.’ ‘Thank you for bring us this message,’ Walter said sincerely to Brian. ‘It was a great risk on your life.’ ‘Some of us are still loyal to the old guard, sir,’ replied Brian, ‘and many of us are still loyal to you, Prince Logan. Good-day to you my Prince… Captain Finn… Sir Walter.’ Brian turned and let himself out. 'I don't understand how anyone there could help us,' Page said the moment Brian was gone. 'Aurora is a dead land. There's nothing there.' 'Or at least, that's what we've been told,' said Walter. 'Regardless, it is the only lead we have.’ 'Can we get on with the plan?' Ben asked impatiently. 'I have an overwhelming urge to shoot someone.' 'First thing, we'll need a ship,' said Walter. ‘Logan and Ben will get hold of one while Page and I make sure the rest of the fleet doesn't follow.’ 'You'll need to go via the back alleys,’ Page added, ‘and they'll be crawling with soldiers.' 'Not a problem,' Ben said confidently. 'I know my way around the place. It’s time we show Lillian just what traitors can do.’ ‘Good luck,’ Page said, hurrying off to rally her men. Ben and Logan both watched her go, before heading through the sewers to the back alleys. ‘You like her, don’t you?’ Ben asked Logan suddenly. ‘Yeah,’ Logan replied awkwardly, knowing that Ben liked her too. ‘You’re lucky to have her,’ Ben continued indifferently. ‘You’ll be good for her too. Just don’t hurt her.’ ‘I won’t,’ Logan promised, ‘and if I ever do, you can be the first person to kill me… after Page is through with me that is.’ Ben chuckled. ‘She’s an independent woman, that’s for sure,’ he said. ‘So where are we going?’ asked Logan. 'We need to get to the far end of the dock,' Ben replied, leading the way out of the sewers. 'So it’s probably best not to shoot until we have to.' ‘You’re giving yourself that advice, aren’t you? Because you and I both know that I don’t carry ranged weapons?' ‘You know me too well.' Ben grinned. 'Oh, leave the talking to me. I have an idea.' 'Uh huh,' said an unconvinced Logan. 'What? I do!' said Ben. 'Why is it that nobody ever believes me?' Logan did not answer for they were approaching one of Lillian’s soldiers guarding the gate. He made sure to keep his face hidden in the shadows so he would not be recognised. 'Stop!' the soldier ordered, catching sight of the Captain and adventurer. 'Only Royal Guards allowed.' 'I know,' said Ben, sounding impressed, 'but can I just say, wow, you look so stylish, you know, with the helmets and everything. My friend and I were wondering if we could join you because, I mean, you just make us ordinary soldiers feel so inadequate.' 'Leave!' 'Come on,' Ben begged. 'Don't you have any leaflets or application forms we could take with us? Or could we even get inside and get your autographs. We're big fans.' 'Leave or we will be forced to terminate you!' the guard snapped, losing his temper. 'Aw, see?' said Ben, turning to Logan. 'Even their vocabulary is stylish.' He then whipped around and shot the guard. ‘So is this all part of your plan?’ Logan asked innocently as the rest of guards began to sound the warning bells of an attack and charged at them. 'Okay, I admit it. I didn't really have a plan,' said Ben. ‘And you wonder why none of us believe you when you say you have a plan,’ muttered Logan, shaking his head as he sent an Elite soldier flying into a barrel of explosives, which then exploded killing several other soldiers. ‘Why couldn’t more flukes like that ever happen to me?’ Together Logan and Ben had to fight their way passed soldiers to the docks. As they were heading to the docks, though, a large crane near the water came crashing down, destroying the vast majority of Lillian’s fleet and damaging the rest. 'Wow, that should keep the bastards occupied,' Ben commented. 'Come on, the way to the ship should be clear.' This, of course, is one of those times when Ben was wrong. 'You were saying,' Logan asked as they rounded the corner coming upon a group of soldiers. Ben did not reply, but his facial expression spoke louder than words as they began to take care of the men that stood in their way. Once they had finished, Walter appeared. 'Walter! What kept you?' asked Ben, acting as though they had been there for ages. 'We have to hurry!' said Walter, ignoring Ben’s comment. 'They're going to be following us after all!' 'What about Page?' Ben inquired. 'She's staying behind. Someone needs to organise things here,' replied Walter. 'Now, come on!' He walked over to a row boat with Logan and a disappointed Ben following behind him. 'Well, it's not much, but at least it floats,' he added, looking down at the boat. 'That's what counts.' ‘There is no way I’m traveling to Aurora in that,’ Logan declared. ‘I’m not even sure it would make the trip.’ ‘How else are we going to get there?’ Walter demanded. 'We could take this one and not drown as soon as we leave port,' Ben suggested, walking over to a large ship, just like the ones Page recently destroyed. ‘Three against one, Walter,’ Logan informed his godfather, following Ben. ‘Three?’ Titian barked. ‘Oh, of course Master Titian would have something to complain about too,’ Walter replied sarcastically. Moments later they had set sail. The last time Logan had been on a ship, he had been only a boy. Sparrow and he used to travel to Bloodstone to visit Reaver all the time. He never knew that the salted air could feel so good and refreshing. For the first time, since he left the castle, he felt relaxed, as though nothing could go wrong, until... 'One of Lillian’s ships is following us!' Ben yelled suddenly. 'And they're gaining!' Logan ran to the railing and looked behind the ship. Sure enough there was a ship, but it was not Lillian’s. ‘Ben, get down!’ Logan yelled, running towards him and tackling him to the ground. As he did, a bullet hit the wheel. Ben had been steering the ship. ‘What the -?’ Ben began, staring at the bullet. ‘That’s not part of Lillian’s fleet,’ Logan said, remaining down on the ground. ‘It’s Uncle Reaver’s! He was the one that just tried to shot you!’ ‘Impossible!’ Ben exclaimed, while Walter muttered ‘Balls,’ angrily under his breath. ‘There is no way he could have shot me from here! Even I couldn’t shot like that!’ ‘I hate to tell you this, but Uncle Reaver is an even better marksman than you,’ Logan informed his friend. Reaver’s ship was then upon them firing with its canons, and before they knew it, their ship had sunk... '-----LOGAN’S JOURNEY-----''' Logan was wet, but hot… that was the first thing he noticed as he became conscious again. Slowly, he sat up out of the wet sand he had been laying on and lightly patted a worried Titian’s head. All around him was the wreckage of their ship, but no sign of Ben or Walter until... ‘Logan! Ben!' Logan heard Walter’s voice yelling. Next minute Walter rounded the corner, caught sight of him, and hurried over. 'Thank goodness!' he sighed. 'Are you alright?' 'Yes. Where's Ben?' Logan asked, getting to his feet. 'It looks like we didn't all make it,' Walter replied sadly. 'I only hope... well, maybe he washed up somewhere else. I'm sure that's it,' he said, trying to be positive. 'Anyway, the only way forward seems to be through a rather ominous cave.' Logan merely nodded and followed Walter mutely, with Titian running ahead of them. 'Before we go any further, I'd just like to say one thing,' Walter announced abruptly. 'And what's that?' Logan asked glumly. 'BALLS!' Walter bellowed, making it echo around the cave and Logan jump. Next minute Titian started barking happily up a head. 'Hello, sounds like Titian’s found something,' Walter said excitedly, quickening his pace. 'You never know, it might be a luxury inn... oh bats,' he muttered, excitement disappearing when they discovered that Titian had found bats. 'Good work, boy. Bats are exactly what we needed right now.' Logan snorted, before coming sombre as Walter brought up Ben. 'What do you think happened to Ben?' he asked. 'He's a strong swimmer. He probably reached a sandy beach somewhere with palm trees, beautiful women and coconut cocktails. Jammy bast - what the hopping hobbes is that?' They had arrived in a large room with some sort of purple barrier that was protecting a hole in the ground with a flight of stairs leading downwards. 'It must be protecting something! Like the way out, most likely,' Walter said as they both hurried towards it. When they were standing before it, they noticed some strange writing around the edge. ‘I wonder what it says,’ Walter muttered. 'It’s merely nonsense,’ Logan replied. ‘It says nothing about how to get out of here.’ Walter stared at his godson. ‘You can understand it?’ he questioned while sounding impressed. ‘I picked up bits of knowledge from my time in the Brightwall Academy and during the five years I was hunting trolls,’ Logan replied with a shrug. ‘What does it say?’ ‘Translated it says, Luminous spirits of the sands, inhale the restless gloaming. You see what I mean? It’s a load of non –’ Logan broke off as the barrier disappeared. ‘I guess it wasn’t gobbledygook after all,’ Walter said as he walked over to the stairs and looked down. 'Uh... it does look somewhat dark though. Maybe going down isn't such a good idea.' Titian barked at him and nudged him with his head, as though to say, 'Get moving.' 'Oh yeah?' Walter said to Titian. 'Well, why don't you lead the way if you're so tough? Oh, very funny,' he added as Titian did as Walter said, before following grudgingly with the laughing Logan. None of them noticed the barrier returning. When Walter had said that it looked "somewhat dark", little did he know that it was an understatement. Little did he know they were walking into complete and utter darkness. Thankfully, Titian was with them, which meant that he was able to find a torch for them, which Logan lit with his gauntlets and Will. Together they walked quietly through the darkness, making as little noise as possible, except when Logan pulled a level to create a bridge. One would have thought that something had exploded. Once they had crossed the bridge, they came to another purple barrier. 'Now where have we seen that before?' said Walter, stopping in front of it. 'Stand back. Walter the Scholar will deal with this… with an increasing sense of trepidation, admittedly. Luminous spirits of the sands, inhale the restless gloaming.' The barrier disappeared. 'There you go, what can I say? I have a knack for gibberish.' Logan chuckled and followed him through the archway, before whipping around as it sealed itself. 'Um, do you ever get the feeling somebody's playing games with us?' Walter asked, becoming quite apprehensive. He was suddenly being reminded of the Sinverana caves. 'All the time,’ replied Logan. 'Let's just be thankful and get through this place as quickly as we can.' They continued down the path before stopping abruptly when white eyes began to appear in the darkness and a cold voice spoke to them. 'The light you bring will die. The light inside you will die. All that you are will die,' a cold voice declared. 'Who's there? Show yourself!' Walter ordered, looking madly around. 'The children are here to play.' The cold voice laughed. 'Oh, this isn't good,' Walter muttered as Logan drew his hammer. Then, all these shadow creatures ran at them, trying to destroy their light, and not meaning the torch. Logan and Walter fought off the attacks, while the voice sent dreaded thoughts at them. They tried to ignore it and hurried along the path to get out of the place. The further they went the more desperate Walter became and when the torch light died, he began to panic. 'No!' he yelled, before trying to relight it. 'Not the light! Not the bloody light! Come on, work, dammit! Those things are all around us! Come on, come on, come on!' He finally got it to work, and he grinned over at Logan, who was looking terrified and pointing to something behind him. Slowly, Walter turned around and gasped at the creature that words could not describe, with its sickly white skin, several eyes and haunted face. It was the owner of the ice cold voice. Moments later, Walter was warding the creature away, by flinging the torch backwards and forwards. When he stopped, it was nowhere in sight. 'No, no, no, no, no... No, no, we have to get out of here. You hear me?' Walter shakily said to Logan, leading the way again. 'You hear me? We have to get out of here! As long as we have fire we'll be alright. We have to keep walking and we'll get out of here and we'll be all right!' 'Yes Walter, we will be -' 'We are coming,' said the voice. 'We will devour you kingdom.' Walter began to panic again and would have run straight into the Shadows if Logan hadn't stopped him. Again, they fought the creatures of darkness and won once more. 'Did the blind Seer not tell you about us?' the creature asked mockingly as they continued on their way. 'Did she not warn you?' 'What? Theresa?' Logan asked, stopping dead. The creature appeared in front of him and laughed. Its laughter seemed to last for an eternity until Walter finally lost it and threw the flaming torch at it, whilst yelling, 'QUIET!' The torch hit the creature and it began to scream with pain as Logan, Walter and Titan ran off. Sadly, they ended up getting separated when Logan jumped off a ledge and the darkness then took Walter. It was now Logan’s turn to panic. He could not lose his friend... his godfather. He would not be responsible for the death of another father. He ran through the ruins the darkness lived in, fighting off any shadows that got in his way, until he arrived in a large room that was filled with black liquid oozing upwards. Around the room were different statues. At the far end of the room stood Walter, covered in the black liquid, gasping in pain. 'Walter!' Logan yelled, running towards him. When Logan stopped next to him, he could see that the liquid was going down Walter’s throat and into his eyes. Logan stared at him helplessly, not knowing how to save him. He turned around, however, as he heard the creature behind him. 'We have waited centuries for you,' it said. 'And why have you been waiting for me,' Logan demanded, sounding braver than he felt. 'For you are the one foretold to either stop the darkness or be destroyed by it,’ it told him. ‘Over the years, the Lords of Light and Darkness alike have watched your family most intently. You humans who are able to possess unnatural strength, skill and Will. You humans who are prone to changing based on your choices. If your choices are fair and pure, fair and pure you look, but if they are dark and corrupt, dark and sinister you shall look.’ Until now, Logan never considered how strange his family was. He had never heard of anyone else changing appearance based on their choices. ‘Let my godfather go,’ Logan ordered in a chilling tone of voice. ‘I think not, young Hero,’ the creature said, before it disappeared laughing, sending its shadow children to destroy Logan. They were no match for Logan, so it brought the bird-like statues, otherwise known as its Dark Minions, to life instead to defeat him. None of them prevailed. In a last attempted to kill him, it brought to life a sentinel, but it also failed, but only just. For a few moments it looked as though it had Logan. 'This land is ours! Darkness shall spread across the world!' the creature exclaimed angrily as a weak Logan ran over to Walter, who had been freed from the dark liquid. 'Walter? Walter, can you hear me?' Logan asked urgently. 'Walter, say something!' 'I can't see a thing,' replied a scared Walter, raising his head. Logan was horrified to see only redness where his eyes were. 'It blinded me. I can't see!' 'It's okay, Walter. I'm here,' said Logan, helping his mentor to his feet and draping his arm around his shoulder to help him out of the darkened ruins. '-----LOGAN’S JOURNEY-----' 'Are we out? Did we get away?' Walter asked as the hot Aurora, desert breeze hit their faces. 'Yes, we're safe from that creature,’ Logan replied. Even though they were safe from the monster, he doubted they were safe from anything else. 'What can you see?' 'A desert,' Logan answered, leading Walter, up to some ruins that overlooked the desert, ‘as far as the eye can see.’ 'I can feel the heat and the sand but whatever that thing did to me, it's like it sucked all the light from inside me,' said Walter. 'I still can't see anything.' 'Careful, there's steps up ahead,' Logan warned and they climbed one of the ruins. By the time they reached the top, Walter was panting. 'I'm not sure... I don't know how far I can go,' he panted. 'Are there no signs of civilisation? 'There's something in the distance. It looks like an enormous statue,' Logan answered as he squinted into the distance. 'How far is it?' 'It's going to take us a few hours.' 'You go. Leave me here.' 'What? There is no way that I'm leaving you here to die!' Logan said inflexibly. 'No, Listen to me. I can't see. I can barely stand. I'll only slow you down. I'll get you killed. You have to go on without me.' 'Never,' Logan said firmly, taking hold of him and helping him towards the desert. ‘I lost one father, I’m not losing another. Not when the power is in my hands to prevent it.’ Walter tensed at his words. He understood the full meaning behind them. Anyway, they had only gone a few metres when Walter collapsed, but he was too heavy for Logan to carry. ‘Logan, you have to leave me,’ he panted. 'I can't leave you here,' Logan replied, desperately trying to pick him up. 'You have to,' Walter argued. ‘I won’t!’ ‘Listen to me, Logan. You must go for help. It is the only way we’ll both survive.’ 'Alright,' Logan replied reluctantly. 'I'll come back for you... I promise.' 'You'll do me proud. I know you'll do me proud.' 'I'll be back,' Logan promised, before running off into the desert towards the statue. As he ran through the scorching heat, the creature’s voice spoke to him and showed him images of Walter being blind. At first Logan thought that they were just mirages, but as they continued he began to realise that they weren’t. They were something more sinister. The creature mocked him, insulted him and spoke of how he had abandoned Walter. Logan tried to block it out, but in the end, it just became too much and darkness consumed him as he lost consciousness. '-----LOGAN’S JOURNEY-----' When Logan opened his eyes, he saw a young woman, probably his age, hovering above him, looking concerned. She was bald with a thick white stripe down the middle of her face and a blue tattoo on the side of her head. 'He's still alive,' the woman said gently, speaking to someone out of Logan’s vision. 'The other can't be far away.' 'Taking a nap in the sun?' Ben asked, bending down next to Logan and picking him up. 'Typical royalty. You had me worried there for a while.' 'Walter,' Logan muttered. 'Don't worry. We'll find him,' Ben promised as darkness took Logan once more. '-----LOGAN’S JOURNEY-----' When Logan awoke again, he was out of the desert and in an unfamiliar room with Titian by his side. 'Hey, boy,' Logan muttered, slowly sitting up and looking around. The woman he had seen in the desert was sitting by his bed. 'You are awake. Good.' She smiled at him. ‘Where am I?’ Logan groaned. ‘Who are you?’ My name is Kalin, and you are in the city of Aurora,’ she replied. ‘I have much to tell you.’ Logan looked around the room and his eyes fell upon the unconscious Walter. 'Walter… how is he?' 'He is very fortunate to be alive, but we have seen his condition before. We may be able to help him,' Kalin answered. 'Is there another one of my friends here?' Logan asked after a moment. 'I thought I saw... in the desert...' 'A devilishly handsome soldier by the name of Ben Finn?' asked Ben, walking towards them. ‘Ben, it’s good to see you.’ Logan smiled. ‘We thought you were dead.’ 'Not dead yet, my friend,' replied Ben. 'Please, follow me,' Kalin said, leading them out of the room. Logan didn’t follow immediately. He was looking at Walter. ‘Don’t worry,’ said Ben, noticing Logan’s worried facial expression and hesitancy. ‘He’s a tough old nut. He’ll pull through.’ Nodding, Logan followed him and Kalin out of the room. 'It's so good to see you,' Ben continued as they followed Kalin. 'When I was fished out of the local port and Walter and you weren't there... well, I thought it was all over. Then I realised I was being an arse and worked my charms to get a search party out for you. Not that Kalin needed much persuading.' 'We are accustomed to misfortune,' said Kalin. ‘Now, it's time you saw our city.’ When they arrived at the city, Logan gasped. The city was more like a graveyard, except worse. It almost reminded him of Wraithmarsh. ‘Welcome to Aurora,’ Ben said grimly, ‘the city of nightmares.’ 'The Crawler did this,’ Kalin said as they walked through the city. ‘What’s a Crawler?’ Logan asked as he looked around. ‘That is what we call that being you faced in Shadelight – the desert caves,’ Kalin explained. 'It appeared five years ago, bringing darkness and death. The few of us who still live have known nothing but fear since. We never know when it will come and we cannot hope to defeat the creature and its spawn without an army. Even with someone like you by our side. Go ahead and explore our city,’ she added. ‘I think I will,’ said Logan. ‘Are you coming, Ben?’ ‘You go ahead,’ replied Ben. ‘I’ve seen enough already. I’ll go and check up on Walter. Nodding his head, Titian and Logan headed off to explore the City of Aurora. All they found, however, was misery and fear. The streets appeared deserted, and those that they did see fled at the sight of them. Filled with sadness, and fearing that this would be Albion after Lillian’s rule, Logan returned Kalin, Ben and Walter. ‘Now you know what we have suffered,’ Kalin said quietly as Logan took a seat next to Walter’s bedside. ‘Ben has told me about your cause, your revolution against your sister. There are not many warriors left among us, but we have ships, and we are willing to fight beside you.’ ‘Thank you!’ Logan exclaimed. ‘What can I give you in return for your help?’ ‘You could give us want we need most; protection. We require aid if we are to survive. That is the promise you must make. Help us to rebuild Aurora and allow it to become a true part of your kingdom. Not a colony, not a thing to be used, but a place with a voice in your court.’ 'I promise,' Logan vowed. ‘I would consider it an honour to have Aurora as a voice in the Royal Court and to have you as my ally.’ 'Then let us go to war,’ Kalin said with a determined gleam in her eyes.